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From category archives: In Trust Blog

Things are looking beautiful at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS), the oldest Baptist seminary in the United States, which occupies a tree-filled campus on a hill overlooking Rochester, New York. The school is the product of a merger of Colgate (founded 1817) and Rochester (founded 1850) seminaries, which came together in 1928. A theological institute for women, the Baptist Missionary Training School, joined the institution in 1961, and a fourth school, Crozer Theological Seminary (the alma mater of Martin Luther King Jr.), joined in 1970.

A few weeks ago, I visited Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California. The campus was designed by Edward Durell Stone, one of the masters of midcentury Modernism. Taking advantage of the mild Southern California climate, the buildings have no indoor corridors -- just outdoor hallways. On a beautiful day like the one on which I visited, it's very pleasant to be so connected to the outdoors.

A few months ago, our friends at Luther Seminary in St. Paul sent some photos of the campus, just for us to use in In Trust Blog.

My favorite is the picture of the Chapel of the Incarnation (above), one of three chapels on campus. When I was there several years ago, a student organist was practicing during my visit, making the peaceful interior even more conducive to meditation.

Last year I visited Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the largest theological schools in North America. They were celebrating the school's hundredth anniversary.

Southwestern has a large and impressive campus in Fort Worth, Texas. The main building, shown here, includes the auditorium-style chapel and many administrative offices, including that of President Paige Patterson. President Patterson made me feel extraordinarily welcome.

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, trains priests for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and two dozen other dioceses and religious communities. It's located in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, just outside the city limits of Philadelphia. The seminary was founded in 1832, and it's been at its present home since 1871.

In 2005, some of the events of the National Catholic Education Association's annual meeting were held there. I attended one of them and took these photos.